Ford officially discontinues the Mustang Shelby GT350 and GT350R
Just like the leaked product information indicated, the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 and GT350R won’t be returning in 2021. With the pair goes the 5.2-liter flat-plane-crank V8 and its exotic soundtrack. We asked Ford about this engine’s future, but were provided the standard, “no future product talk” response. So for the time being, Ford’s 8,250-rpm masterpiece has no home.
As a side, Ford let us loose for a day with the GT350 Heritage Edition last week when it delivered the sad news to us. You can read about that experience here.
Ford also provided the following statement on the discontinuation of the model:
“With the 760 horsepower Shelby GT500 now in full stride, we will finish production of Shelby GT350 and GT350R this fall as planned. This makes the way for new additions to excite our passionate Mustang fans for 2021 model year – including the limited-edition Mach 1.”
The 2021 replacement is the Mach 1, a car we haven’t driven yet, but have high hopes for. It steals a number of parts from the GT350, but the engine isn’t one of them. To be fair to Ford, this generation of Mustang probably isn’t long for the world anyway. The latest scoop from Automotive News about the next-gen Mustang pegs it as a 2022 reveal with 2023 being the first model year it’s available. Still, we’ll miss the GT350 in the 2021 and 2022 Mustang lineup.
Ford quietly and subtly updated the GT350 and GT350R over the years. Our most recent drive in the car was in the GT350R on track. Now we know that this updated (for 2020) GT350R only has one year of life in it, making it a serious catch if you find yourself lucky enough to own one.
With the GT350 and GT350R out of the picture, the uber-expensive and fast GT500 is the only Shelby-branded Mustang left in the lineup. Seeing as it’s still a new product, we imagine it’ll stick around right up until Ford calls it quits on this Mustang. For now, we bid the GT350 goodbye, and thank it for its delightful service.
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